Device for dispensing fish



July 16, 1968 J. B. ERIKSEN DEVICE FOR DISPENSING FISH Filed Oct. 13, 1967 JAN 65km [RM/JEN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 1 Claim. ci. 221- 213 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for dispensing fish one at a time from a chute comprises a pair of opposed rollers with parallel axes and peripheral surfaces of sponge rubber. The sponge rubber surfaces have opposed cut-away pockets with at least one gripping spike disposed in each pocket to aid in the reception and transfer of fishes one by one.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No. 565,427, filed July 15, 1966 now abandoned.

This invention relates to a device for dispensing fish one at a time, which are fed into the device head first, com prising two coordinating, synchronously driven rollers with parallel axes.

In devices of this type, the fish is subjected to great pressure when passing through between the rollers and on account of the varying thickness and slipperiness of the fish, it is not possible to achieve a dispensing with exact intervals between the dispensed fish.

The purpose of this invention is to furnish a device for reliable and gentle dispensing of fish one at a time, at exact time intervals.

This is achieved according to the invention by the rollers being intermittently driven and consisting of, or being fitted with, an outer tire section of elastically yielding material, for example foam rubber, these rollers, on the periphery, having a cut-away section, or pocket, which forms the gripping surface for the head of the fish.

In order to ensure an exact beginning point for the fish before it is gripped by the gripping surfaces, a further feature of this invention is that the pocket has approximately the shape of a circle segment with a nose in front reckoned in the direction of rotation of the roller, and flush with the circumference of the circle. In this manner, the head of the fish will come to rest against the nose before the dispensing takes places between the rollers.

To prevent the slipperiness of the fish affecting the moment of attack of the gripping surfaces, a further feature of the invention is that the gripping surface is fitted with at least one gripping spike.

Two examples of the device, according to the invention, will be explained below with reference to the drawmgs.

FIGURE 1 shows a section of a device according to the invention shown in the direction in which the fish is dispensed.

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FIGURE 2 shows the device in FIG. 1, in section also in the fish-dispensing direction, but compared to the section in FIG. 1.

FIGURE 3 shows in the same manner as FIG. 1a different embodiment of the rollers.

In the examples, the fish 1 is fed head first through a tube or a channel 2 with the help of vibration or gravity. In front of the mouth of this tube there are arranged two coordinating, synchronous and intermittently driven rollers 5 with parallel axes 6. The rollers 5 are fitted with an outer tire section 4 of foam rubber. The tire sections 4 have a cut-away part, or pocket, 8 in the shape of a circle segment with a nose 3 in front reckoned in the direction of rotation of the rollers flush with the circumference of the circle. The pockets 8 form the gripping surface for the fishs head and the nose acts as a stopper for the fishs head before the gripping surfaces come into action.

The example in FIG. 3 is like the example in FIG. 1, except that in the gripping surfaces there has been fitted a gripping spike '7 to ensure that the time intervals for the dispensing of the fish shall be exact and not influenced by the slipperiness of the fish when attacked by the gripping surfaces alone.

At the same time, the soft elastic material of tire section 4 which covers the rollers 5 of the present invention cooperates with these spikes 7: as the pockets 8 turn away from each other to discharge the fish, the elastic material of the pockets, which has been to some extent compressed, springs back and moves relative to the spikes 7, so as to overcome any tendency of the fish to cling to the dispenser. In other words, the dispenser is self-ejecting by virtue of the combination of the spikes 7 and the soft elastic material of the tire sections 4 on the periphery of the rollers 5.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A device for dispensing fish one at a time which are fed into the device head first, comprising two rollers with parallel axes synchronously driven in opposite directions, each roller having an outer peripheral tire surface of soft elastically yielding material, the rollers having on their circumferences at least one pocket that is opposed to a corresponding pocket on the other roller, each pocket having approximately the shape of a circle segment with a nose in front with respect to the direction of rotation of the roller and flush with the circumference of the outer tire surface, and at least one gripping spike extending outwardly and disposed within each pocket so that the gripping spikes of the two rollers are opposed to each other.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 479,688 7/1892 Weller 221-259 1,452,721 4/1923 Antoine 221-266 2,167,049 7/1939 Maurath et a1. 221-259 X 3,065,879 11/1962 Jennings et al 221-266 X 3,105,609 10/1963 Salfisberg 221-224 X WALTER SOBIN, Primary Examiner. 

